Alliance & Leicester snapped up as bid fever returns to the City July 15, 2008 A frenzy of merger and acquisition activity, spearheaded by Spanish bank Santander agreeing to buy Alliance & Leicester for £1.3bn, returned to the markets yesterday causing stocks to rally. The oil and gas sector was the centre of much of the bid action, with Imperial Energy, the developer of Russian oil reserves, soaring 18 per [...]
Energy prices are set to fall right back down to Earth July 14, 2008 Even though oil prices hit new records at $147 on Friday, sentiment in the energy markets is slowly starting to shift. If you want proof, recall the events of last Wednesday. Traders in London woke up to pictures of Iranian missile tests and later in the day were forced to digest a large draw in [...]
New InBev offer appeals to Anheuser July 14, 2008 Brewing giant InBev has upped its takeover bid for American rival Anheuser-Busch to $50bn (£25bn), and yesterday appeared confident of winning agreement to close the deal. After a month-long stand off between the two firms, InBev increased its offer for the Budweiser maker to $70 a share, up from $65 a share, or $46.3bn. The [...]
Wolseley to slash more jobs July 14, 2008 Wolseley, the heating and plumbing supplier, plans to cut hundreds of jobs due to the downturn in its core American and European markets. The move is yet further evidence of the looming recession facing the UK economy in general and housing related industries in particular. The firm, which employs around 14,000 people in Britain, already [...]
Yahoo snubs fresh bid from Microsoft July 14, 2008 Internet firm Yahoo this weekend angrily rejected an audacious proposal to sell its search business to software giant Microsoft and hand control of the rest of the company to shareholder Carl Icahn. Icahn and Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer are pressurising Yahoo in a desperate bid to oust the board and to remove chief executive [...]
Crispin Davis set to retire as Reed CEO July 14, 2008 Publishing giant Reed Elsevier has begun searching for a successor to replace chief executive Sir Crispin Davis –one of the longest serving FTSE 100 bosses– when he steps down next year. Headhunter Anna Mann has been recruited to find a replacement from a mix of both internal and external candidates. Davis, who turns 60 this [...]
This crisis shows what lies in wait for the rest of the City July 14, 2008 While Dawnay Day is no household name, the crisis that has engulfed the privately-owned investment giant in recent days will be remembered as a key milestone in the credit crunch. A perfect microcosm of the unravelling of the great financial boom of the noughties, Dawnay’s woes are being followed especially closely by London’s huge Mayfair-based [...]
Bischoff joins City talkshop July 14, 2008 Chancellor Alistair Darling is to chair a working group looking at competitiveness in Britain which will include Citigroup chairman Sir Win Bischoff. The group will meet once a month and will analyse matters affecting the London financial services industry such as the effects of the subprime mortgage meltdown in America which triggered the credit crunch, [...]
US problems expected to spread to UK July 14, 2008 The crisis at America’s biggest mortgage firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may be occurring across the Atlantic but the shockwaves will be felt in the UK, experts warn. Speculation that US regulators were last night preparing to step-in to rescue the two companies, which are owned by shareholders but have government-sponsorship, was greeted with [...]
US reopens EADS $35bn tanker deal July 11, 2008 Pan-European manufacturer EADS yesterday said it intends to rebid for the $35bn (£17bn) contract it thought it had won to supply the US Air Force with refuelling tankers after the American government reopened the process. US defence secretary Robert Gates has said the contest for 179 new aerial refuelling tankers would begin again after the [...]